Trading Places
by Archdruid-Sephiroth
Summary: Some days it just doesn't pay to wake up in the NERV medical ward. After a failed cross synchronization experiment Rei and Asuka find that they've switched bodies, and they discover a love that may be doomed from the start... or is it? Rated for language, mature themes and sexual content. Yuri.
1. The Day It Went To Hell

**A/N:** I don't own EVA. If I did, I wouldn't write fan fiction for it.

* * *

**Archdruid Sephiroth Presents…**

**An insane little number…**

**Trading Places**

**I: The Day It Went To Hell**

* * *

Asuka Langely Sohryu did not have a good day yesterday, and today wasn't looking too good either.

Yesterday, she found out the Third Child, the perverted baka hentai himself had been swooped away by the latest addition to Class 2-A…

Mana Kirishima

She hated her… everything about her… She was too prissy on the surface, she was definitely hiding something. But Asuka would be damned if she knew what it was. In fact, she wasn't even sure why she was so bothered by the fact that Shinji was falling for her in the first place. He was just a perverted little boy, not a man like Kaji. And yet, it annoyed her to no end.

Then there was an angel attack during an important test in the simulation bodies. The Angel, later identified by the MAGI as Iruel, invaded the chamber and very nearly caused NERV to self destruct before the bridge crew managed to deal with the problem. And Asuka as a result was left floating in a plug in the middle of Lake Ashi, completely naked. She was not happy about that.

Now she found out she would have to go to NERV straight from school because The Commander ordered another cross-activation experiment, only this time just between the First and Second Children and their respective EVAs.

Asuka's mood changed from simply not happy to completely flustered. She was, of course going to go to the mall after work, and take out her aggressions on some new video game they just got in at the arcade. That plan was now completely blown out of the water. By the time the experiments would be done, Asuka would be lucky if she had time for a light dinner before going to bed for school the next day.

To make matters worse, she'd been having some odd feelings lately, pointed towards yet another object of her near constant aggravation, The First Child. Rei was more than simply an enigma to her now, she was a source of utter frustration and aggravation. The Commander's favorite she was, always getting the most attention from him and yet compared to her, Rei's sync ratio was a joke. Her complete lack of social skills was even worse. To Asuka, she was a living doll, and if there was anything Asuka hated in this world, it was dolls.

And yet, somewhere beneath the surface, Asuka couldn't help but wonder if there was something more than that. She did have to admit to herself that Rei was beautiful in her own way. The hair and eyes were definitely exotic, and her skin was always flawless, despite the many injuries she sustained as an EVA pilot. Her hair was silky… her eyes were deep, and her curves were in just the right places.

Upon thinking this, she decided it was probably time to have her head examined. Asuka was many things, but a lesbian was not one of them. She wasn't one of _those_ girls, and she'd never be. She was into men… or that's what she kept telling herself. Still, she was beautiful in so many ways. If only she could reach out to her and get her to open up…

… and that's when she honestly wondered if Ritsuko was qualified to give her anti-psychotic medication. She'd see a shrink but they cost money she didn't want to spend. For now, she would concentrate on finding out what she could about Mana Kirishima and why she seemed so shifty and untrustworthy to her… and do her damnedest to get Rei out of her mind.

From Rei's perspective, nothing mattered and nothing would ever really matter. She knew why she was created, she knew what her purpose was and she knew she would be granted release from this painful existence when her appointed time had come. Nothing beyond that mattered to her. And yet… as of late, she was both bothered by and fixated on Asuka. She didn't understand why. She felt a pain within her, one she couldn't identify. It wasn't real pain, in a matter of speaking, but it could be defined the same way. She wondered if this is what normal people call loneliness. But she pushed this feeling aside. It was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. She had maybe a year before Third Impact, and then it wouldn't matter anymore.

Yet…

… she couldn't help but become fixated with the Second Child. Her brashness and superior attitude were distracting and yet Rei wondered what she would be like to be that confident in herself. She was only ever truly confident in The Commander's Plans for her and his scenario. What did self-confidence feel like? Was it always so liberating? It was then that she realized that the Second's personality was intoxicating in its own way, and she contemplated keeping her distance more and more in case such exposure pushed her from her purpose.

It was that night when both children would have their lives changed. If but for a little while, things would be very different for them. But would they gather understanding from this episode or is fate simply playing a cruel joke?

**

* * *

NERV, Hours later

* * *

**

Asuka sat in Rei's plug wishing she were somewhere else. The atmosphere was just as placid and dull as she expected. Though there was a calm here in Rei's plug, she kept feeling like she didn't belong here.

"How does it feel inside 00?" Ritusko asked over the com link.

"Weird," Asuka said immediately. "I feel like I'm some alien environment." Her face scrunched in disapproval. "Mein Gott, are we done yet? This is almost uncomfortable!"

"Patience," Ristuko replied. "We should be done in a few minutes.

Meanwhile in 02, Rei was experiencing unusual sensations of her own. The atmosphere here was almost stifling, as if Asuka's infectious attitude were apart of the plug itself. It was very distracting and it made syncing with the EVA a difficult venture.

"How about you Rei?" Ritusko asked.

"It is… uncomfortable here." It was the best assessment she could come up with.

The bridge was in slow motion with the technicians, the Operations Director and Ritsuko herself just waiting and watching the data.

"They're both holding at 27%," Maya reported.

"Not unexpected," Ritsuko whispered.

"This seems like a monumental waste of time and resources," Misato commented. "We know the cross-sycronization experiments were a failure before. Why did The Commander order another set?"

"Who knows," Ritsuko replied. "He didn't give me a reason, he simply wanted it done. I've learned not to question him."

"We've reached the end of the timetable," Makoto reported. "Shall we begin the shutdown?"

Ritsuko nodded. "No point in dragging this out. There hasn't been a change in synch scores for the past 20 minutes."

And that was when the trouble began.

"Sempai!" Maya yelled as the computer started going nuts. "Both of their synchronization ratings are rising rapidly!"

"What?" Ritusko ran to her tech and looked over her shoulder.

"40%... no 50%! They're still rising!"

"Eject the power cables and send the force shutdown command," Misato ordered.

"Cables ejected, Units 00 and 02 have switched to internal power," Hyuga reported."One minute till shut down. Both EVA's are rejecting the shutdown command."

"Eject the plugs," Misato order grimly, hoping there wouldn't be any injuries. She remembered Rei's activation experiment and hoped this wouldn't result in the same thing all over again.

"Both EVA's are rejecting the command interface!" Mokoto replied. "40 seconds to shut down!"

Inside the plugs, both pilots suddenly felt as if the LCL's pressure was increased beyond tolerance. Asuka and Rei struggled to stay awake amidst a mental pressure they couldn't identify.

"Get us out!" Asuka screamed as her brain felt like it was going to explode.

"30 seconds to shutdown," Mokoto reported.

"Synchronization rate of both pilots has crossed the 100% mark, 120%, 150%!"

Both EVA's suddenly began reacting as if they were trying to reject the pilots. They broke their restraints and grabbed their heads as if feeling what their pilots were feeling. With a roar they broke the final restraints and tried to punch their way out of the test chamber.

"Activate the Bakelite System. Do it!" Misato yelled.

Both EVAs were immediately drenched in the redish liquid which was quickly crystallizing around them. But they continued to fight back. Both of the pilots were screaming in pain now. Asuka looked up for a moment and for a second she thought she was seeing the inside of her own plug and not 00's before the pain finally caused her to black out.

**

* * *

Hours Later

* * *

**

Rei was the first to awaken. Her eyes opened but everything was fuzzy and undefined. She had no idea which hospital room she was in, only that she was in the medical ward at NERV. She sat up, finding she was naked in bed as she usually was when she woke up in this place. But something was definitely off. She felt her hair cascade over her shoulders and down the front of her. In the darkness she could see it and puzzled at just what had happened.

She shifted to the edge of the bed and stood up. Everything felt off, as if her height was wrong, her balance was different and nothing made sense to her. Carefully she made her way to the bathroom and nearly collapsed on the sink. Steadying herself, she reached out and turned on the light. It blinded her so she closed her eyes and concentrated on relaxing them so they could adjust.

Slowly she opened her eyes and stared into the mirror. A look of shock came over her face… mostly because it wasn't her face at all.

Her hand came up to touch her cheek. Blue eyes followed every movement. She pushed the red hair from her face and shoulders, and saw her body was shaped differently from what she was used to seeing. She blinked, looking into the pools of blue that were the windows of her soul.

"This," she said in a voice that wasn't hers, "was not part of the scenario."

* * *

Several rooms down the hall. Asuka was starting to awaken. She was also in the dark and cursed at her inability to see very well at all. Her hands reached up to her head to try to sooth away her headache when they came in contact with the tips of her hair.

"Wait…"

She grasped her hair finding it was significantly shorter than she remembered.

"Mein Gott, don't tell me they had… to… cut…" she stopped talking. Her voice wasn't her own. Something was very wrong here and she had to find out what. She got out of bed and quickly fell to the floor. Her balance was completely off and she didn't know why. If they did cut her hair maybe they had to operate on her brain? It would explain her difficulty in finding her balance. Would she be able to pilot EVA again? The thought scared her beyond her wildest comprehension. EVA was everything to her, and if she lost that, she lost herself.

Carefully getting back to her feet she made her way to the bathroom as swiftly as she could and threw the light on. Instantly she was blinded and turned away covering her eyes. Nothing felt right, everything was wrong and she wanted to know why. Maybe once the light no longer hurt, she's be able to see the scar on her head that she knew had to be there. Damn them for taking her hair!

As her eyes started to adjust they were looking down. Immediately she knew something was very wrong. Her breasts were bigger than she remembered and her skin was paler by a long shot. Her body was absolutely perfect, but she knew it wasn't right. In fact, she had seen a body like this just yesterday…

"No…" she whispered as she forced herself to turn to the mirror and look into it. A gasp escaped her lungs as she stared into crimson eyes. Her hands reached up to her head which was covered in an azure mop…

"No… I…" A hand went over her mouth as she realized she was speaking with Rei's voice.

Rei's voice…

Rei's eyes…

Rei's hair…

Rei's body…

She had become the doll…

The scream that tore from her lungs could be hard several halls away.

* * *

Moments later Ritsuko ran in and saw Rei crying at the mirror, barely holding on to the sink. This was an odd feeling for Ritsuko as the normally emotionless First Child never cried to her knowledge.

"Rei what's wrong?" She asked tentatively. She was suddenly grabbed by her lab coat as the tearful child looked at her and said the last thing that Ristuko ever though she would hear out of Rei.

"GIVE ME MY BODY BACK YOU BITCH!"

"What in the name of…" and then it dawned on her. "Oh my god… Pilot Sohryu?"

"Yes it's me! What the fuck have you done to me? Mein Gott you turned me into the doll!"

"Calm down pilot, right now!" she snapped causing Asuka to suck in a tear before she backed off and almost fell over again. Ritsuko pulled a hospital gown from out of closet next to her and tossed it to her. Asuka put it on though she did take a moment to look at her new body. She hated being in Rei's body but at the same time, she had to admire it.

"I don't know what's happened, but getting hysterical about it is not going to solve the problem. Understand?"

Asuka nodded. "Why do I look like Ayanami?" she asked a little calmer, but Ritsuko could hear her straining to keep her temper in check. It was obvious she was beyond pissed off.

"I don't know yet," she replied. "I need to check on Asuka… I mean Rei.. and see if the same thing happened to her. Stay here, lie down and try not to get hysterical. We'll figure this out."

Asuka nodded but she was now more worried then ever. How could this have happened to her now? She didn't want to be a doll. And if Rei had control over her body… no, she couldn't even contemplate that.

* * *

Ritsuko went to Asuka's room, or more accurately where she had Asuka brought after they got her out of the EVA. Inside the bathroom, she found Asuka staring at the mirror and examining herself. Though it appeared to be with clinical detachment, Ritsuko could have sworn she saw a slight pinkish tone come over her face.

"Rei?" she asked questioningly and watched as Asuka's head turned in her direction.

"Doctor Akagi," she replied. "I seem to have an unusual problem."

Ritsuko sighed… it was going to be a long day.

**

* * *

End of Chapter 1

* * *

**

_You can have my isolation_

_You can have the hate that it brings_

_You can have my absence of faith_

_You can have my everything_

_-Nine Inch Nails, Closer_

**

* * *

A/N:** I'm not sure if I'll be continuing this or not. I just threw it together because it was an odd idea and I thought it would be kind of amusing to write. Still working on getting the next set of chapters done for Too Human. It's the story that has occupied me longer than any other.

With any luck I'll have the chapters I want finished done and posted within the next week or so. Until then, thanks for reading this blurb.

If you decide to review, do you think I should continue with this at some point?


	2. Day 2: 12am to 6am

**II: Day Two, 12:00 am – 6:00 am**

* * *

**12:01 AM Tokyo Time**

* * *

Asuka's emotional scarring was likely to be pretty severe. Ritsuko had given her a sedative to calm her down and it worked pretty fast. Thankfully, the doctor had the presence of mind to remember whose body the sedative was for. Then, she went back to Rei's room to see how she was holding up. Already things were starting to get strange with her.

Rei was sitting in the middle of the bed running her fingers though her own hair as if she never felt anything like it before, and that's when it hit Ritusko… she really hadn't felt anything like it before. In Asuka's body, Rei was free of the drugs that kept her docile and controllable, including the side effects of reduced sense of touch and general apathy. She was starting to learn sensation for the first time. This wasn't good for the scenario at all…

Ritusko found she couldn't care about that. Gendo's perfect little doll was starting to change now and it was going to play Mary Hob with his plans. Though Ritsuko believed in the work once upon a time, understanding of what she was really doing made her truly learn that Gendo had only his own agenda in mind and not what was best for humanity. Even the original plan to use the Red Earth Ceremony to usher in mankind's ascension was misguided, but as the old saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Now she had a way to derail the plans of the madman and potentially mess up SEELE's ultimate plans as well, but how to push this process forward? There wasn't a whole lot of time left…

"Rei," she asked in a low voice to get the girl's attention. A moment later, she let go of her hair and let it fall over her shoulder while her now blue eyes locked with Ritsuko. "How are you feeling?"

"Unusual," she replied. "Everything somehow seems… clearer to me now. I can't really explain it." Though she responded with her usual deadpan, the expression on her face and the slight inflection of her words told Ritsuko what she needed to know. Rei was scared, and it was her first time truly feeling fear. Everything was now unknown to her, sensations were different and she was in a body that wasn't hers originally. Ritsuko couldn't use the same drugs on her now to make things more normal for her because of the difference in body chemistry.

"Are you ok?" Ritsuko asked with concern in her voice. Partially it was fake concern but a part of her actually did feel sorry for the girl and so it was sincere on some level.

"I… I do not know," Rei pulled her hands up to her upper arms and rubbed them. "I am uncomfortable, my skin is doing something I've never seen it do, acquire a bumpy texture."

"Gooseflesh," Ritsuko replied immediately. "You are cold."

"I do not get cold," she corrected.

"You do now, that is not your body."

Pointing that out again only made her shake more. "Perhaps not just the cold," Rei said in a low voice. There was definite signs of vocal cracking at the end.

"I know Rei," Ritsuko replied. "You're frightened… you don't know what's going to happen now."

"Is… is this somehow my fault?" She asked. Ritsuko's heart broke at the sound… Rei's voice was barely above a whisper and the inflection especially at the end was that of a child who had done something very bad. Before she could stop herself, Ritsuko sat next to Rei and took the now red-headed child's body into her embrace. Rei instantly felt warmer though a little out of her element.

"This is called a hug," Ritsuko replied to the unasked question. "How do you feel now?"

Rei relaxed into Ritsuko's embrace, her eyes already starting to feel heavier than they did a moment ago. "Better… I think. Thank you Doctor Akagi."

Ritusko simply nodded as she felt the child slowly rely on her more for support until Rei had finally fell asleep.

_She's already beginning to trust me… good._

* * *

**12:34am**

* * *

Ritsuko entered Asuka's room quietly as the sedatives still held her asleep. The monitors told Ritsuko what she needed to know. Her brainwaves were erratic meaning she was probably having nightmares. In a drug induced sleep, she won't wake up either. She's going to be cranky in the morning that's for certain, and she wasn't looking forward to that.

"_Mein Gott you turned me into the doll!"_

"I'm such an idiot," Ritsuko whispered to herself. She didn't realize it at first, but now she did. Asuka wasn't simply pissed off that she effectively traded places with someone she hated, she saw Rei as an emotionless doll. Asuka hated and feared dolls on a primal level because of her mother's insanity and suicide. This wasn't simply bothersome to her, it was a nightmare!

"Once the shock wears off, she's going to start feeling the effects of the drugs in Rei's system. When that happens, she'll start to lose some of her emotional output. I imagine she's going to feel quite a bit of fear after that…"

This was quite an opportunity she realized. No one has ever been forced to live their fears quite like this before. She's likely to do everything in her power to stop degrading into an emotionless doll; it would be interesting indeed to see how that played out and how successful she was.

She'd likely try to stop taking the medication Rei takes. The cover story was she needed the medicine to keep her body chemistry in balance or she would die. But of course, that was a lie. Her body was stable. The drugs only served to keep her emotions dulled and her will subdued. So she would give Asuka the same cover story and force her to keep taking the medicine. Then observe the reaction and see how she tried to fight it.

Placing a fresh dose on the table next to her, Ritsuko left the room, she had a meeting with The Bastard King and she didn't want to be late.

* * *

**1:00 am, Office of the Supreme Commander of NERV**

* * *

Ritsuko was right on time.

"Report," The Bastard said without ceremony.

"At approximately 1800 hours yesterday we conducted the cross-synchronization test between Units 02 and 00. The pilots reported being uncomfortable in the plugs but continued on as ordered. At the end of the timetable, approximately 1900 hours, we lost control resulting in over 20 million yen in damages to the test chamber. Both units broke their restraints and tried to escape the chamber. All attempts to shut them down remotely failed, only the back up contingency of only 1 minute of battery life in the case of control loss saved the facility.

"Both pilots appeared to suffer severe neurosystem feedback and went unconscious. We didn't see any cause for alarm since the damage seemed as if it would be temporary. However they awoke shortly before midnight and the true extent of the damage became clear.

"It appears that Pilots Ayanami and Sohryu have effectively traded places."

"Elaborate," he ordered.

"The easiest way to describe it would be to imagine putting both pilots on a table, slicing open their heads and switching the brains of both between the two bodies. They have effectively traded places on a conscious level. Pilot Sohryu is now in possession of Rei's body and Pilot Ayanami is currently residing within the body of Pilot Sohryu."

"What effects has this had?"

"The expected effects were observed in both children. Sohryu is living her own personal nightmare, and Rei experienced fear for the first time in her life."

"Fear?"

"Yes sir… fear. Her voice broke as she tried to explain what she was experiencing; she had gooseflesh, shook involuntarily and was more susceptible to the cooler temperatures of the hospital wing. In addition her maturity level has… regressed somewhat."

Gendo's eyebrows knitted into a configuration that meant he was getting angry. She'd seen that look before but also knew that there was little she could do to prevent this.

"Elaborate," he ordered again, this time with inflection that warned of impending doom should he not be satisfied with her response.

"I'm unable to determine the rate of regression, but based on her response to my inquiries and comments, I'd say she briefly regressed to a maturity level similar to the time of death of her first incarnation. She asked me, rather fearfully, if what happened was her fault. The voice reminded me of a child that was worried she did something terrible. It was the only indication currently of any personality or maturity regression but it stood out."

"I see. We should terminate this one and activate the third."

"Normally I would agree with you, but we have a problem that is preventing that."

"And that would be?"

"Lazarus triggered during the final moments of the disaster."

Gendo didn't even move when he heard that. He immediately knew the implication of this, and didn't foresee this contingency.

Lazarus was a system put into place by the late Naoko Akagi. During battle and during tests, Rei would be scanned constantly though the Evangelion itself and any information collected would be used to update the dummy plug system automatically. This information was stored just in case something went wrong. In reality Naoko designed it for research purposes and for use during investigations after combat, but under Gendo's orders, Ritsuko adapted the program to help keep Rei's battle data up to date. The problem was even during tests, the system would activate, which means the data might be corrupted in ways neither of them could predict. It could have her data up to the moment of the accident or at the moment of transference, meaning that some of Asuka might have been saved and overwritten the dummy plug system.

Needless to say, Gendo was not happy.

"How long will it take to repair the data?"

"It may be possible to repair the data by pulling it apart and figuring out which pieces need to be kept and which discarded, but the Magi is unable to make those decisions so I'd have to go through and manually sift though the data block by block until I've removed all of the obviously incorrect elements. That could take anywhere from nine months to three years. If we can get Rei back in her original body, we can do it in a matter of hours."

"I see," he replied with no infliction. "Begin working on a method to reverse this accident. Keep me updated."

"Yes sir," she replied and left. _Good, he bought it, now there is no danger of him terminating Rei._

Once the door closed, Sub Commander Fuyutsuki put a glass of Alka-seltzer in front of him. Gendo could immediately smell the artificial flavors in the fizzy concoction.

"I thought we agreed no cherry," he said in deadpan.

"We only have these left in storage."

Gendo twitched ever so slightly. He hated cherry….

* * *

**Darkness**

* * *

_Asuka found herself floating in a sea of red. All around her, she felt the LCL as she swam though. Her hands went to her hair, it was her own, looking around she didn't see anything, just endless expanses of LCL._

_She swam in a direction eventually coming across another swimmer approaching her. She kept swimming and realized at the end of it, it was just a reflection, but beyond the reflection she could see a metal room. Within that room she saw Gendo Ikari standing there impassively, his eyes invisible beyond the glare on his glasses. The Commander had his hands behind his back folded in a resting position._

_It was then that Asuka became self conscious of the fact that she was naked in the LCL which she now realized was a tank of some kind. As she tried to cover herself, she heard a giggle and turned to see another one of her floating in the tank with a gentle smile on its face…_

… _no life existed in those eyes, no sign of intelligence, no sign of real life, it was just a doll. She was staring at a doll of herself._

"_Get away!" Asuka yelled at the giggling form but then heard other giggles as the last word left her lips, her eyes darted around and suddenly she could see them. There were dozens of clones of her floating idly in the LCL, all lifeless dolls, all giggling in ignorant bliss. Asuka pushed her back to the glass as they came closer. She suddenly felt something warm on her back and spun in time to see Commander Ikari's hand on the glass._

_It was his right hand and his glove was off… something was embedded in his palm that looked like an embryo. Asuka gasped as her clones began to grab her, some in inappropriate places. Thin fingers clutched her breasts, her neck, her arms and legs. She was forced closer to the glass as the hands grasped her hips and pulled her legs back, bringing the rough location of her womb close to the glass._

_Asuka watched in horror as the embryo started to pull itself though the glass as if it were little more than thick water, it mutated as it went gaining teeth and a face similar to Unit 01. Its eyes glowed and it roared as it came closer. She cried out and strained with all her might, but one of her was not nearly as strong as all of her. The embryo grew hands and it clutched at her under belly a mere few inches above the apex of her legs, she felt her stomach muscles contract at the touch just before the fingers phased into her flesh to reach into her womb…._

Asuka awoke with a scream, clutching the covers to her chest as tears rolled from her eyes, moments after the immediate fear left her she began to cry hard, pulling her knees into her chest, which she realized was still not her own. Her eyes shifted towards the clock and she saw the time was 5:15 am.

She was so hopeful that what she experienced last night was nothing more than a bad dream like the one she just had, but now she realized that what she saw actually happened… she traded places with Rei in the truest sense of the word.

"Mien gott," she whispered between cries. No one came to comfort her; perhaps no one really cared about what she was going through. The thing that scared her more than anything else was one major thing she noticed ever since she took possession of the First Child's body… her sense of touch was very dull. In fact there was a general pull in this body to quell her emotional output…

_I'm turning into a doll… I bet that dream was about that._

But if that were true, what did the rest of it mean? It didn't all have to do with her current dilemma right? Was she psychic or something?

She uncurled herself and reached over to the table. Pills and a small cup of water waited for her.

"What's this?" she picked up one of the pills, but it had no markings on it as to what it was. "Is this what they give her? I remember someone saying she needed medicine in order to survive… and this is probably what's making me turn into a doll!" She threw the pills across the room. "No! I won't take them! I won't become a doll!"

She just realized that she was not alone in the room. Doctor Akagi watched her with an impassive gaze. "Not very adult of you to do that Pilot Sohryu," she stated evenly.

"I don't care! I won't let you turn me into a doll like her!" Tears continued to fall from her eyes.

"Rei's body is unstable; it always has been… if you don't take your medicine you will die horribly."

"I don't care! I'd rather die than become a doll!"

"Asuka… please," Ritsuko whispered. "I'm doing everything I can to help you. I'm working on a project to reverse the process that did this but I need you to hold on. I can't do this if you're dead."

Asuka sniffed once, letting the tears fall. She didn't want to take the medicine but she knew Doctor Akagi was right.

Nodding, Asuka finally acquiesced. Ritsuko gave her a fresh dose and watched as she nervously took the medicine. Asuka almost instantly wished she didn't as she felt as if her emotions where starting to drain away again. She tried to hold on to the sadness, but it was becoming a burden to do so.

"Fast acting," Asuka noted while brushing her azure locks from her face.

"She can't always take her medicine when she needs to, it has to be. You're next dose is tomorrow. Try to get some sleep."

"Ok," she said in a low voice a she laid back down on the bed. Once Ritsuko was out of the room she let a few more tears go.

_It feels like my life is draining away…_

She got up and went into the bathroom again. Turning on the light she looked at herself in the mirror…

Rei's face…

Something gave her a calming feeling when she looked at it.

_Mein Gott, could I actually admire her… I only wished she wasn't so dead inside…but I'm going to become dead inside soon myself…_

"Nein," she whispered looking determined. "I won't let myself fall like that. I can't allow myself to become a Gott Verdamnt doll. I won't!"

She looked at herself… Rei's body…

The fear came at once, unbidden and consuming. In her mind she imagined she didn't have a choice, that Asuka would fade away and she would simply be another Rei…

_Another blissful clone floating in the sea of LCL…_

That dream again….

"Why do I have these thoughts?" she asked no one. "What do I do…. What CAN I do?"

* * *

_You can have my isolation,_

_You can have the hate that it brings,_

_You can have my absence of faith,_

_You can have my everything_

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter went very differently in the first iteration. The only parts kept from that first version are the dream Asuka had and the Doctor Akagi's meeting with Rei in the beginning.

This is probably going to be the longest review section I've ever had to do.

**CrazyMystique:** I'm really not that good at comedy, so the humor tag is getting pulled from the story. The way it's going so far its more angst / psychological than humorous but I plan to keep some humor in it (speaking of which Thanks to Marine Brother Sheran for the Alka Seltzer gag). But I'm glad the first chapter tickled you so much.

**Weapon-VII:** As mentioned, not big on humor but if you're still going to read it, welcome to my brand of insanity… please fasten your seatbelts and put your tray tables to their full upright positions, or the stewardess will beat you about the head with the tray table.

**Neferius: **And here I thought you read me for my Arael stories only. Swap stories are a bitch and a half to write, so this one is not just a fun one to try to create, but also a self-imposed literary challenge. I didn't realize what I was getting into until I tried to write chapter 2 and things started getting very… strange. The initial idea for the chapter was interesting, but also doomed. I might try to write an alternate version of this based on that much darker chapter since the story will go in a completely different direction if I do that.

And yeah, Mana has an important place in this story…

**Asukaforever92:** Mana Kirishima is such a little cutie, but you always have to wonder if she's up to something. She's close to a true Mary Sue based on looks alone so there has to be a dark side to her. If you like Mana a lot, then you may be interested in _"Bellum Sanctus"_ when I finally start writing it… it's all about her.

**YoungBoch: **I certainly thought so when I started it, but it is really hard to write for. I doubt this one will be nearly as long as my other stories.

**Belthasar: **I didn't see one either, which is why I thought I'd try my hand at it.

**driftking18594:** That was actually one of the reasons I wanted to try it. I had the thought that I could do it right, but now I'm really starting to see how hard it is to do.

**Toby860: **I thought about what combinations could happen, I even had the odd idea of doing a switch between Maya and Ritsuko or even Rei and Misato. Ultimately, I decided on Rei Asuka because of the sheer difference in personalities. They're cast from the beginning as polar opposites. So we'll see how this goes. I'm still unsure of the finished product for Chapter 2 but I have been wrapped up in Bloodlust as of late. That story is just about finished (finally).

Thanks to everyone that reviewed and read this piece of crap. Hopefully the second chapter was worth the wait. I apologize for it being as short as it is, but hey, at least it takes more than 20 second to read….


	3. Day 2: 6am to 12pm

**A/N: Warning: **Lemon content. Don't like it? Don't read it.

* * *

**III: Day Two, 6:00am – 12:00pm**

* * *

**6:35am**

* * *

"I have no idea what I'm doing up at this ungodly hour of the morning," Misato said as she entered NERV. "No amount of beer could prepare me for this day." She had no idea just how correct her observation was.

Ritsuko Akagi had called her into work, waking her up about an hour ago. Misato said she'd make it as soon as possible and planned for 6:30. She was five minutes later than she expected but had little in the way of will to care about it.

"I hope Asuka's ok," she said to herself as she entered the elevator and pressed the button for the floor she needed. "Shinji sounded pretty worried last night, not that I can blame him. I didn't want to leave her here either."

She exited the elevator when the doors opened and began her long walk to Doctor Akagai's medcial office which she's been in since last night. She knew the bottle blonde likely didn't get any sleep last night so in a way she felt sorry for the doctor. But all the sympathy in the world was not going to save her from getting bitched at about being woken up at 0500.

As she walked down the hallway she saw one of the doors was open slightly. Peeking in she saw Asuka lying there looking at least somewhat peaceful. Misato decided to take a moment and walked into the room to check on her. She didn't realize the girl was such a light sleeper though as her eyes opened and she started to sit up.

"Oh, sorry," Misato said upon seeing this. "I didn't mean to wake you?"

"It is fine," she said in an uncharacteristic deadpan. "I was not sleeping very deeply, Major."

"Asuka, you don't have to call me Major right now. This is me, your guardian being concerned about you, not your CO."

The redhead seemed to consider that a moment. "I do not believe you have been briefed on my… condition. You are under the impression you are speaking to Pilot Sohryu."

"Well aren't I? You like like… wait…" It dawned on her in whose style of speech she was speaking in. "Rei?"

"Yes Major Katsuragi," she replied.

"Oh… my… God…" The sudden shock of situation caused her to take a step back.

"A peculiar, if expected reaction."

"Then where is…"

"I do not know," Rei replied. "Perhaps in a nearby room."

"And is she… in your body?"

"I was not told that directly, however I have surmised this to be the case."

"Kami-sama," Misato whispered. "How… how could this have happened?"

Rei frowned. "I was not privy to that information. Doctor Akagi would be better suited to…" Suddenly she started shivering again drawing Misato's attention.

"What is it Rei?"

"I… I am uncertain… I think I might be…" her voice started breaking as she brought her knees up to her chest. "I believe… I am feeling it again."

"It?"

Rei looked at her and in the blue eyes there was an emotion reflected that Misato thought the enigmatic girl incapable of feeling.

"Fear," she said in a tiny voice.

Misato slid down and Rei immediately clung to the Major in an unexpected gesture. Rei was never very touchy feely before, so to see her in this situation was somewhat unnerving. She wrapped her arms around the girl's slight frame attempting to hide her from the world like a good mother would. Her heart broke as she heard Rei whimpering in Asuka's voice.

_It doesn't make any sense… why is she suddenly so terrified? She's never shown the ability to feel anything before, much less fear._

"Major?" came the voice of Doctor Akagi.

Misato looked at Ristuko with the same confusion she felt when she tried to rationalize what was happening to Rei.

Wordlessly, the doctor brought in a small cup and a couple of small pills. As she tried to get Rei's attention, the whimpering turned into full on crying.

"Rei," she whispered to the girl. "You have to get more rest. I have something to help you relax and I need you to take it ok?"

Silently the girl nodded and let go of Misato. She took the pills and laid back down, falling asleep within mere moments. Misato backed off as Ritsuko took the time out to make sure she was covered and tucked into bed, a gesture she never knew Ritsuko providing for anyone, let alone Rei.

When they left the room Misato stood by and looked at Ristuko with the same confused expression.

"What is wrong with her?" she asked. "You know, aside from the obvious. She's in Asuka's body, that I get, but I'd have expected someone as analytical as Rei to be a bit more in control than this."

"Normally you'd be correct," Ristuko replied. "However this case is a lot more complex than you think it is." She began walking back towards the medical office with Misato close at her heels. "Rei's body is actually unstable from her illness, she'll die without proper medication but the medicine has some… side effects. Now that she inhabits Asuka's body she doesn't need it. Unfortunately, she'd been pretty reliant on those side effects."

"Those side effects being…"

"Dulled sense of touch and smell, emotional atrophy and docility."

"Emotional atrophy," Misato replied. "Unable to feel."

"She felt," Ristuko corrected. "But her feelings were subdued, and she has little experience in expressing emotions. It's why she's always so deadpan. She feels everything but to a much lesser extent and she doesn't express her feelings at all. Now that she's free of the drugs, she's forced to experience everything at full strength for the first time in her life. It's a bit… scary for her. She seems to like hugs though."

"Poor kid," Misato replied but then the bad thought came. Though not as smart as Ritsuko, she quickly put things together. "But if the drugs kept her subdued like that, and Asuka… where is she?"

"In Rei's body," she replied. "And I think I know what you're going to say."

"She's living her own personal nightmare now isn't she?"

"I may have to keep her sedated at this rate, she refuses to sleep. She's putting every ounce of her remaining mental strength into trying to fight off the side effects of the medication she's forced to take." Ritsuko frowned. "Not that Rei is any better. Even with sedatives, she sleeps light as you saw. I think every little sound she hears is bringing her to a new level of fear."

The entered the medical office where the computer had an open MAGI connection.

"I've been compiling what I've been able to find out so far. Both children synchronized with each other's EVAs but it's almost like the EVAs synced with each other at the same time."

"Wait, what?" Misato couldn't believe her ears.

"It's true," she replied. "The data backs it up. There was literally a four way synchronization going on in that test chamber, but the incompatibilities caused the EVAs to go berserk and the pilots to somehow switch bodies. That's what I'm unsure on, I can't tell for certain exactly what caused the synch shift and the body swap. Unfortunately, neither can the MAGI." Ritsuko paused long enough to let out a protracted yawn. "And it's not getting any easier to decipher either. There is too much that doesn't make sense… seemingly random alpha and beta waveform spikes, energy fluctuations, and the on board data isi…" She yawned again. "Excuse me… isn't synching with what we recorded on the bridge."

"You need sleep," Misato noted.

"I know. Can you watch the kids for me? It's the real reason I called you down here. I need to get some kind of rest, and then you can take the rest of the day off if you like. I've already arranged it."

"I guess that will make up for having to come in so damned early."

"Do yourself a favor though," Ritsuko cautioned, "be careful with Asuka. She's been in a foul mood since she found out she got swapped."

"I've no doubt about that."

Ritsuko nodded then walked into the side room and lay down on the couch. Without another word she turned off the light and bunched her lab coat into a makeshift pillow. Misato was sure she was unconscious before her head stopped moving.

Misato checked the clock… 6:54 AM.

"I'll let her sleep at least until one o'clock." She whispered and headed for Asuka's room. She wasn't looking forward to this.

When she entered the room, the bed was messy and Asuka wasn't in it. She moved to the bathroom where she saw light coming out. She peeked inside and saw Asuka staring at the mirror intently. It looked like she might have been crying at one point but now she was just staring.

"Hey Asuka," Misato greeted.

Asuka turned towards her. The crimson eyes were expressing more emotion that she ever remembered seeing when Rei had control of that body. "Misato-san," she replied shortly. "Is Shinji with you?"

"No he's probably on his way to class by now," she replied. "He's worried about you."

"He's worried about me…" she replied trailing off. She visibly started shaking but it wasn't the violent fear she was expecting, even this was subdued. "I'm worried about me! I'm terrified Misato… terrified of what I'm becoming, and the worst part about it is I'm having trouble feeling as afraid as I really am. It's like I'm dying inside."

Misato didn't know what to say.

"It gets even more fucked up than that… there is something keeping me at least partly in my own mind, and it's the last thing I ever thought would do it."

"What is it?"

"I shouldn't tell you… you'll think I'm fucked up… hell, I think I'm fucked up."

Misato looked at her seriously. "Is it Kaji?"

"No," she whispered. "I haven't even thought about him since yesterday… it doesn't feel right to think about him."

"Oh?" Misato was genuinely interested. The inflection in her voice was hard to feel out due to the subdued emotional output but the way she spoke about not being able to think about Kaji and feel right about it meant she hit on something… she had strong feelings for someone and it was helping to ground her and making it possible for her to fight off the drugs.

"Misato… I… No, forget it, I shouldn't tell you."

"Tell me," Misato said in a commanding voice. She knew if this person, whoever they were could keep Asuka from slipping away completely, then maybe she could use this to Asuka's advantage… she wasn't prepared for the answer.

"It's… it's Rei." A light bluish tone crept over the pale cheeks of the red eyed girl.

Misato was shocked beyond belief. She knew Rei in all her mannerisms was the thing she hated the most… a doll. So how could this have happened?

"You can't be serious," Misato replied with obvious shock in her voice.

"There is something about her," she began as her fingers touched her own cheek, "something I can't explain. It feels like… like I have this overwhelming desire to try to get her to open up and allow herself to feel… If I can just fight off these drugs for long enough, maybe I can convince her she could do the same and be… the normal… beautiful girl I know she can be." She let her hand drop the sink as her eyes dropped. "I always thought love between two girls was disgusting and wrong, but I can't help the way I feel." She turned her gaze towards Misato. "If loving her is wrong, arrest me now and be done with it. Tell me how wrong I am, make me understand it! Please Misato, tell me!"

Misato stayed silent. Asuka wanted her to try to change her mind, and it was obvious. But it meant that Asuka was trying to rationalize why she should stop thinking the way she does and isn't able to come up with one that can't be simply dismissed.

"Aren't you going to tell me how wrong I am?" Though the emotion she tried to convey was strong, it came off weak anyway. Of course most of it wasn't her fault.

"I'm sorry," Misato replied. "Other than saying that most people don't approve of same sex relationships… I can't think of any reason why it would be truly… wrong."

"Gott in Himmel," she cried. "I know she doesn't feel the same way, she can't! How… how did I become a lesbian like this? I was never into girls before! Am I just desperate to feel anything?"

"Did you think about her at all before this even happened?" Misato knew that stress did nasty things to people, and this was probably one of those incidents. But that thought got dashed when Asuka answered truthfully.

"Since the Seventh Angel," she said. "I got jealous when I saw Rei able to synch with Shinji on that stupid dance mat with little difficulty. I wanted to be in the fight so badly, but she kept coming over to monitor our progress… it's why I messed up so many times, I was nervous about failing in front of her. At first it was because I knew if we didn't get the routine right, Rei would replace me but then it changed to simply wanting to be better than her. Then… then I wanted to… impress her I think… but I knew she wouldn't be impressed by something like that, so I gave up. But she stayed in my thoughts since then. Now… hardly a day goes by that I don't think about seeing her."

Misato was a little flabbergasted to say the least.

"She's… so exotic… those eyes… that hair," she gazed at her reflection in the mirror again giving a gentle little smile. "The tiny ways she expresses what she feels." Her face fell. "I was so jealous of Shinji when he told me about how Rei smiled to him after the battle with the fifth was over… I wanted to see it. I was lucky to glimpse it when I did… that baka doesn't disserve her affections… I do."

It was like she was becoming someone else. She had hid her affection for Rei so well that even she was convinced it didn't exist. Only now that they had become switched could she let out her emotions, likely under the guise of temporary insanity so she felt better about what she was saying.

"You need to rest," Misato said at length.

Asuka frowned slightly. It was Rei's famous look of minor annoyance that usually spoke volumes about her feelings. "I'm not tired."

"We both know that's a lie."

"I can't lay down Misato! If I let myself sleep then…"

"You won't fade away," Misato assured her. "Hold on to the feelings you have for Rei and you can get though this okay?"

She seemed unsure of herself at first. Eventually she agreed and allowed herself to be led to the bed. As Misato expected, by the time her head hit the pillow, she passed out.

Misato checked the time again… 7:12 am.

"It's going to be a long day."

* * *

**10:12 am**

* * *

Rei woke up with a start. To her only the blink of an eye had passed between when Ritsuko gave her the pills and got her to lie down until this moment. The fear started creeping back into her but it was being displaced somewhat by another emotion. She felt the soft linen sheets glide across the exposed skin of her arms and legs and it felt new and interesting to her.

She sat up, running her hand across her arm with the sheet between them. It was so much more vivid than anything she had felt before. She felt her heart in her chest starting to beat faster. Pulling the sheet down slightly, she ran her slender fingers over her arm and felt her hair over her shoulders moving as she shifted her head. The skin was turning to gooseflesh again but this time it felt good.

Not understanding what she was feeling, she was pushed to explore these sensations further. Her hand glided across her shoulder and arm, but as she did so, her forearm brushed against her chest, and the abnormal stimulation caused her nipples to harden under the medical gown. The contact elicited a moan of pleasure from her that shocked her out of the activity.

"What… what was that feeling… that sound?"

Rei only had a rudimentary knowledge of sex ed, and it didn't prepare her for this. She had no knowledge of erogenous zones at all and had never even so much as masturbated before. So when her hands came down and gently caressed her breasts though her medical gown, the action elicited new sensations, and she found it hard to stop doing it. Her thin figures kneaded them and rubbed her nipples until they were almost painfully erect. Wanting more contact she pulled the gown down over her shoulders exposing her breasts. She looked at them at first with clinical detachment, noting how the areolas and nubs had changed with stimulation, but the sight pulled her from a decidedly medical examination as she felt the blood pulse though her womb in time with her heartbeat.

Rei stroked her fingers over them again, bringing another sound from her lips. She didn't understand why she made that sound but it somehow felt agreeable to do so. Her hands continued to stroke over her breasts and into the valley between them now. She closed her eyes an exhaled evenly.

Without even thinking about it, visions came to her mind that were also rather agreeable. She saw herself in bed with Asuka, kneeling over her, stroking her chest the same way with their faces a short distance from each other, and it was Asuka making the sounds.

Rei's hands drifted down this body that wasn't hers feeling the quivering of her muscles and something new now… a peculiar wetness that was forming between her legs, but she wasn't thinking about it. Her right hand glided over her stomach down to her apex past the shaven skin. As her hand slid over her pubic mound, her middle finger slid down along the slit, hitting her now awakened clitoris and elicited a sensation that shook Rei to her core. Despite the intensity, she couldn't stop her hand from moving and felt her inner muscles quiver in delight.

Rei moaned again as the hand started rubbing all over the region, keeping her middle finger running along the slit and feeling it touching her labia as it passed each time. Soon the slick sound of a digit running though a well lubricated slit became more noticeable to her as she was concentrated on the feeling it was giving her, unable to stop. Her left hand started kneading her right breast much more roughly as the feelings became stronger and stronger. Eventually she stopped kneading her breast and brought her hand up to her mouth. She lightly bit into her own pointer finger and hand from the side to keep her quiet, knowing that if she made much more noise she might alert someone to what she was doing. It was one of the few coherent thoughts she had before the end.

She silently cried into her hand her middle finger slid deeper into her slit and hit a very sensitive spot hard enough to trigger an orgasm. Having such a hard time with emotions in the first place, the sudden shock of what is likely one of the strongest feelings a person can have knocked the wind out of her and nearly made her black out with its intensity. Years of repression shattered in an instant as her fluids ran down her skin to settle into the sheet beneath her.

She finally released her hand panting hard and carefully removing her right hand from her nether region as the whole area suddenly became hypersensitive.

Minutes went by as she tried to recover. Eventually her panting was reduced to a minimum and her heart slowed to a more manageable rate. Her legs closed and rubbed together feeling the wetness between her thighs and feeling the wonderful sensations starting up again.

"I… I should stop," Rei whispered as she tried to get a hold of herself. "But it was… it felt…"

Before she could stop herself, her right hand was back at her vagina again, this time her hand was sandwiched between her thighs. She pulled her knees up as she rolled on her side. Her left hand was at her right breast again as her fingers probed deeper into her body this time. Rei buried her face into the pillow as she no longer had control over the sounds she was making.

Her fingers continued to slick though her now drenched pussy. Both hrt middle and ring fingers were running the full length of the slit while her left hand squeezed her right breast and her thumb ran circles over the areola and nub. Her back bent pulling her knees closer in a repeated motion as she was now pumping her fingers into her body. She knew what she was doing now, even if she only understood in a medical sense, and still had no intention of stopping.

Her breathing became labored as the feelings reached their highest point again. Rei wanted this so badly, she was almost crying. She knew it was wrong… this wasn't her body, but she couldn't stop herself… she needed to feel this again. Her mouth clamped closed on her pillow as she felt her insides contract again and more fluid was emitted from her already sopping wet entrance.

When the orgasm finally ended she removed her hand and wiped it on her chest. She smelled herself and realized she would have to change the sheets on the bed and shower if she was going to keep what she did a secret. She couldn't face Major Katsuragi or Doctor Akagi if they knew.

Then her eyes opened. Why couldn't she? Wasn't masturbation a normal activity for someone of her age? She knew what she felt about it, and it was yet another emotion she knew nothing about…

_Shame_

Her eyes closed and she saw the vision again. Rei and Asuka together naked in bed. Rei was curled into Asuka's chest and the red-heads arms protectively encircled her. It was more of a sweet image than one that elicited the desire to touch herself.

_Is this what my soul desires?_

But the redhead was so… brash. Asuka's independent spirit and her apparent obsession with Inspector Ryoji seemed to preclude any chance of earning the girls affection. That thought made her very sad. As much as it felt good to be hugged by Major Katsuragi or Doctor Akagi, she knew it would feel so much better if she were in the arms of Pilot Sohryu…

"Asuka," she whispered as her still damp right hand settled over her heart and her eyes softened. "Why does my soul desire you? Why do I desire to possess you?"

* * *

**10:41 am**

* * *

Misato decided it would be a good idea to do a room check now that both children should be fully and hopefully deeply asleep. First Asuka as her room was closest. She gently opened the door as she reached it and looked inside. The azure mop was all that was visible of the girl. She didn't snore but her breathing was audible and even. She was sleeping peacefully.

Or at least, Misato hoped she was sleeping peacefully. It might just be the drug stripping her uncomfortable emotions from her.

Closing the door silently, she moved on down the hall to Rei's room. As she arrived she heard the sound of running water and knew it was probably the shower running.

"So much for Rei being asleep," Misato whispered.

She opened the room door, knowing the shower was well out of sight in the next room. It looked as if she changed the sheets on the bed. That struck Misato as odd as patients at a hospital don't usually change their own bedding.

Then she noticed it… there was a scent in the room that was different, slightly sweet. Misato followed her nose and found the basket of dirty linens. She pulled the bottom sheet out and found the source of the sweet smell.

A pronounced wet spot was clearly visible on the sheet.

"She didn't!" Misato whispered as she noticed it. "I didn't think Rei did that!"

But thinking about it she realized Rei probably had never done it before. Her sense of touch is no longer dull, and if Rei was exploring her sense of touch, one thing might have lead to another.

For someone who loves teasing people, this was the find of the century. But Misato knew that teasing Rei would probably not be good for her at this stage. She instead filed this tidbit away for later, once Rei was better able to take a good teasing like that.

Misato walked over to the bathroom door and lightly rapped on it. A startled squeak came out of the room….

* * *

**Moments before**

* * *

Rei stood under the water, idly playing with her long red hair. She was clean now for well over 20 minutes but the feel of the water on her skin was most agreeable. With her sense of touch awakened, she felt every droplet of water cascading across her skin. No longer looking at herself with clinical detachment, Rei enjoyed the view. This was Asuka's body, and though it was her soul and parts of her personality that attracted Rei, the once azure haired girl was now able to fully appreciate her beauty. She looked to her left and came face to face with Asuka.

The long red hair now plastered back by the water ran over her shoulders and down the front, hiding her breasts from the mirror. Her blue eyes were alight with wonder as she studied her beautiful face, somehow all the more beautiful when wet like this. She touched her own cheek and smiled softly at the feel of her skin.

"Asuka," she whispered.

Somehow, calling her Pilot Sohryu didn't seem correct anymore. Rei desired to deepen her non-existent relationship with the redheaded pilot. She closed her eyes and another vision came to her. This time she and Asuka were in the central park of Tokyo-3, sitting on a bench near the lake there. They were holding hands and Rei had her head leaning against the red head's shoulder. Asuka smiled at her, an almost soft glow in her blue eyes as she let go with her right arm and put it around the albino while taking her hand again with her left this time. She imagined them together content this way for a time, then they looked at each other and began to close the distance. Eyes closing, lips preparing to kiss…

A sudden rapping at the bathroom door shattered her daydream and she squeaked in surprise like a mouse that barely evaded a mousetrap.

"Rei?" came the voice of Major Katsuragi. "Are you okay in there?"

"Yes Major," she called back gathering her composure. She noticed her fingers were beginning to wrinkle the way they do when she stays in a pool for too long. Her skin was saturated. "I'll be out shortly."

"Its fine Rei," Misato replied. "I'm just making sure your ok. You didn't sleep very long, are you sure you're well?"

"I'm fine," she answered immediately and shut the water off.

"Ok, just checking. I'll be in Doctor Akagai's medical office if you need me."

Rei heard the receding footsteps and sighed in relief. She got out of the shower stall and began to dry herself being careful not to touch herself too much in places she now knew were extra sensitive, lest she fire up her libido again. She walked back into the room and found a bag was left with some of Asuka's clothing in it. She pulled out the underwear and looked closely at it. It was red instead of the normal white.

Rei frowned slightly. Unless it was Asuka's hair, she hated the color red. Apparently however, Asuka seemed to like it a lot. It probably had a lot to do with both her hair and her fiery personality. She put them on, fishing out a red bra next. Again, frowning, she put it on as well now more aware of the fact that Asuka's chest was not as well developed as her own. She didn't know why she didn't notice this before.

Once both were on, she found a pair of denim shorts and a white T-Shirt. After she put those one she looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn't her school uniform but she found the look to be agreeable, especially since she was seeing Asuka in that mirror. Taking up her hair brush, she began to work on her mane. In time it was straight and she let it dry, placing the A-10 Neural Clips in the same way Asuka always did. Rei decided it was a cute look and she couldn't imagine the girl without them.

Finding a chair, she pulled it up to the mirror and sat down. She sat primly in the chair with her knees together and her hands resting on her lap. It was not a very Asuka like pose, but it was comfortable for Rei. She stared at herself now, fully done up and smiled gently.

She would stay there a while…

* * *

_You can have my isolation,_

_You can have the hate that it brings_

_You can have my absence of faith,_

_You can have my everything_

* * *

**A/N:** So I was planning on continuing with my edit of Adrift but decided the best way to get back into the saddle would be to just run with something, so I decided chapter 3 needed to be made for this one.

So… yeah… I have no idea where I'm going with this. Obviously this chapter ended up A LOT more sexual then I originally thought it would. I have no plan on this, really, I don't. There is no master plan for this story; it's just going on its own at this point. And while things are a little OOC, the additional back story I provided on Asuka should help smooth that over a bit.

And Rei, well… imagine you've had dulled touch, virtually no emotional output and complete docility all your life and suddenly someone just turns the on switch for everything all at once. The first time you discover it feels good to touch yourself in specific places what would you do?

**Cyber-Undead:** Yeah, one of my favorite fantasies. Funny enough, not the primary reason for writing this, but you know…

**Belthasar:** To hell in a hand basket my friend… to hell in a hand basket

**Neferius:** Thanks for this very long comment. I'm just letting this story run its own course and so far it's been… interesting to say the least. I have lots of thoughts on where things can go from here but until I sit down and start on chapter four, I don't know what will happen.

Normally when I write one of these chapters out, I start with a series of short statements on what will happen in that chapter… x does so and so to y, y reacts in such and such a manner… and then filling in the details and dialogue.

This time, I just started writing and let it go. Took me two sessions to write this, with each session about a couple of hours. I made it easier in one way; normally I cut off the chapter when it gets north of 12 pages in Microsoft Word. At that point its passed the 3700 word mark and entered into 4000 territory. That's pretty beefy for a chapter but I feel personally it's a good length for me. This time, I base chapters on 6 hour timeframes.

It's kind of like 24… only more mental because it's EVA.

Chapter two being the middle of the night was only about 9 pages in word. This one hit 12 before I started on the outro and author notes. During busy times of the day, the chapters might even get longer. But my reasoning behind this is simple, this is a situation that can go from suck to blow at a moment's notice, so you shouldn't have to miss a thing.

And you won't…

Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed. See you next chapter.


	4. Day 2: 12pm to 6pm

**A/N: **This is a long and quite emotional chapter.

* * *

**IV: Day 2, 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm**

* * *

**12:07 pm, NERV Hospital Wing**

* * *

Misato tapped the desk as she watched the time tick by. Ritsuko was still asleep which was fine, she wasn't due to be woken up for at least another hour to an hour and a half, but Rei was awake and had yet to make her appearance. She honestly wondered what she was up to.

It occurred to Misato that masturbating in Asuka's body was just barely this side of rape in a way, but she was convinced that if Asuka thought she could successfully do it to stave off the effects of the drugs, she'd do it in a heartbeat. Hell for all she knew, she was doing it right now.

Finally, Rei walked into the room. Misato took note of the fact that Rei had perfectly mimicked the red-head's favorite hairstyle, which indicated she either knew it well or was very good at observing such small details that most others would overlook.

"How are you feeling Rei?"

Her blue eyes blinked once but she smiled softly; it was one of her small understated smiles, the ones that Asuka loved so much. She wondered how much the girl would like to see such things in her own body.

"I am well Major," she replied as she sat down primly in a nearby chair. "I believe I am beginning to cope with my current situation, though I am still anxious all the time."

"It's only natural," Misato replied but her face took a serious turn. "Did you want to talk about it?"

Rei's face went neutral, and then her brow furled as it normally does when she is thinking about something carefully. On one hand she knew that she should talk to her about this to help her cope with the situation, but on the other, she feared speaking of it might bring about the anxiety attacks again.

_Phobophobia, the fear of fear itself._

She didn't want to fall into such a pattern; it was destructive and would only serve to weaken her further. In her heart she knew Asuka didn't like weakness and so she wanted to make sure she wouldn't become weak herself.

_Facing my fear can only make me stronger._

"I am willing," she said at length, though Misato could feel the anxiety in her voice as she gave such consent.

"Ok," she replied. "But if you get uncomfortable talking about it, you can stop."

She nodded.

Outside the room, Asuka stood against the wall, listening in as Rei didn't close the door all the way. She had glimpsed inside and saw herself briefly and her heart started to race.

_Good… fear… its something… something I can hold on to and not feel so dead inside._

Hearing her own voice was also scary as she listened in on the conversation, especially since her voice sounded like most of the emotions were pulled out of it, though even Asuka could tell that Rei was beginning to express emotions a little more.

_Of course, she's free of the drugs now isn't she? She's starting to feel for the first time. What is this doing to her? Misato said something about being uncomfortable…_

"My life up to this point was always something that was prescripted for all intents and purposes. Though I can not explain much of it as it is sadly beyond your clearance level, it is sufficient for me to say that every faucet of my life has been planned out."

"All if it?" Misato asked.

"Yes. I exist with a unique purpose and my life has been conducted around that purpose. To this effect, the side effects of the medication I am forced to take to stay alive have served me well. As far back as I can remember, I have taken the pills and sacrificed my… humanity."

Asuka felt sorry for Rei but she couldn't shed a tear, the drugs in her system were preventing her from really feeling what she knew was in her heart. And now her heart was starting to beat faster.

"But I did not regret that," she continued. "I accepted it as part of my life as it was required of me even as a small child. I never thought about how things really felt, or smelled or tasted; it was all rather irrelevant in the grand design. I never even felt so much as a twinge of curiosity. I never even thought about the people that could feel what I could not, as even this was irrelevant. As Asuka pointed out… I am… was… a doll."

_Was?_

"Was?" Misato asked.

"Yes," she continued. "I no longer see myself as that, but it is an uphill climb. Though Doctor Akagi is intelligent, I do not rate my chances of returning to my old body. Of course, I wish to… and yet… I don't."

Asuka and Misato both noticed the wavering in her voice. She was starting to feel the anxiety and fear again. Misato knew she'd likely need to console the girl again soon.

"Why not?" Misato asked. She knew, though she wanted to hear how the child phrased it.

"My old shell is a prison," she whispered, her voice wavering more. "Unless Doctor Akagi can find a way to remove the dampening effects of the drugs on my emotions, I would not want to return now. But… I can't condemn Asuka to such a fate."

_Why not?_ Asuka thought hopefully. _Do you like me too?! Please say you do!_

"That is rather selfless of you Rei," Misato replied. "It must be hard decision for you though." She stood up and approached the girl as the redhead brought her knees up to her chest again in obvious discomfort.

"No," she replied. "I have a purpose that I can not fulfill within this shell, and it isn't right to trap Asuka in a prison she must hate beyond our comprehension."

_Damn… so that's it then…_

"More than that," Misato replied. "It's her greatest fear."

_Why are you telling her that?! Mien Gott, I want to go in there and slap her!_

"Asuka has Pediaphobia?" Rei asked. "This must be… terrible… for her." Almost instantly Rei started crying though she looked shocked at what was happening to her. "Major!" she cried as Misato wrapped her arms around the girl. "What is wrong with me?! Are these tears?!"

Asuka's heart broke at the sound.

"Am I crying?! Why?!" Her voice sounded as if it was about to shatter in its own sorrow.

"You empathize with Asuka," Misato replied hugging her closer. "This is a natural… if a bit excessive reaction to this situation."

_She's overemotional. Verdamnt, I need some of those emotions right now._

"I don't want her to suffer!" Rei cried out.

Asuka's heart skipped a beat. Rei hated her, or so she thought, though she hoped she was wrong about that. Nothing in this conversation until now indicated otherwise… now suddenly… what was happening here?

"Of course you don't," Misato replied. "It's okay."

"No! It's not!" Rei nearly screamed as she pulled away from Misato. "I'm hurting her now! Don't you see that?! She's in my body! She's in hell! Why?! Why did I have to be so focused on my purpose… why couldn't I want something for myself?!"

Asuka choked back tears of her own as she realized that Rei was breaking. She wanted to go in there and comfort her, but fear stayed her hand.

_What if I'm wrong?_

"Rei calm down!" Misato tried to get to the girl but she pulled away quickly.

"No! Leave me alone! You can't help me now! I've ruined her life!"

"This isn't your fault! You're being irrational!"

"I'm not! I know what I've done! It's why Doctor Akagi refused to answer my question last night, I know it!"

Of course, all the yelling woke Ritsuko up, and she realized immediately what was happening. Rei was going hysterical.

"I'm to blame for all of this!" Her voice began to trail. "I… I did this… I…" her breath came up short. At the realization of what she felt she had alone been responsible for, her breathing suddenly became difficult as her chest just seized up. It was another anxiety attack, but far worse than the others she had dealt with previously. She clutched at her own heart as she fell against the file cabinets with a sharp bang, and her breath wheezed like a 20 year smoker who tried to run the Boston Marathon.

Ritsuko ran in with a syringe. "Hold her Major," she ordered and Misato obeyed. Even with her chest seizing up Rei was resisting though she was unable to do little more than mouth the word "no" and gasp for air. She kicked and fought until Ritsuko finally managed to pierce her neck with the needle. The plunger was depressed, and 20cc's of a sedative were immediately pumped into her body. With a last look of shock in her eyes, her breathing finally evened out and she collapsed.

"What the hell?!" Misato finally said now that Rei was completely subdued. She shifted to cradle the child in her arms and sit down with her.

"I was expecting this at some point," Ritsuko replied, still trying to get the sleep out of her eyes. "I just didn't think it would happen this fast."

"She blames herself for this entire incident," Misato pointed out.

"I know. I should have answered her last night," Ritsuko replied. "I didn't think she would react this badly to it. I was more worried about keeping her calm than answering her rhetorical question. But I overlooked something."

"To a child," Misato replied, "the question of fault is not rhetorical."

"Rei regressed," Ritsuko agreed. "I just didn't realize she regressed so much."

_Mien Gott._ Asuka placed her hands over her mouth as a single tear broke free from her eye.

"I really don't want to keep her sedated constantly, but this is getting out of hand," she continued. "If she doesn't start calming down, I may have to."

Asuka peeked in and saw that Misato was sitting on the floor now, cradling an unconscious Rei in her arms and gently brushing the red hair away from her face.

_She just lost her shit because she's blaming herself. But if she's beating herself up this badly over it, does that mean she does care about me after all?_

Rei lost it the moment she realized what trading places was doing to Asuka. And the former redhead didn't miss that all important detail. She didn't know if it was wishful thinking, but it did make her wonder. She was just fine until the subject was breached and then…

_What other explanation could there be? She said it herself, she cared nothing for the people around her, yet now… inexplicably, she's devastated over what's happening to me._

She debated stepping into that room, revealing that she'd been listening, but then, the decision was made for her…

"It's more complicated than you think," Misato replied. "Asuka's been fighting the drugs for more reasons than to just stave off her Pediaphobia."

"That's a long word for you Major," Ritsuko joked lightly.

"Yeah, I got it from Rei," she replied casually. "Look, the bigger reason why she's fighting it so much is that she's in love with Rei."

"What?!"

_Yeah, time to leave… I knew I should have made her promise not to tell anyone… Mein Gott, at this rate, the whole of NERV will know by tomorrow night!_

"I wasn't going to talk to you about this, but let's keep it between us for now," Misato continued.

_So she has some decency after all._ Asuka left at this point, quietly making her way back to her room.

"Are you kidding? Who would even believe us?"

"True. Anyway, she confided in me while you were sleeping. She's trying to prove the drugs can be fought off so as to prove to herself that she could get Rei out of her shell, in a manner of speaking."

"I never pegged her to be into other girls," Ritsuko observed. "Then again, this could just be a phase. The problem is, in such a traumatic instance, that phase will become a full blown psychological condition."

"True, but what harm is there in lesbianism. Besides, I have a theory that Rei might also be in love with Asuka, but neither of them know it yet."

"What makes you say that?"

"Sometime this morning… Rei masturbated in her bed."

"No!" Ritsuko said in obvious surprise. "Now you're pulling my leg."

"It's true! The bottom sheet was in the used laundry basket and it had a pronounced wet spot on it."

"Wow… how totally inappropriate of her to do that! It isn't even her body! But I see how it could have happened. Her sense of touch is fully restored."

"Yep, and all I think it took was a brush of something sensitive to get her exploring."

"Rei is finally having a real adolescence… but all the good came with some very bad. We need to get her back to her room."

"Yeah," Misato replied as she carefully picked up the girl, keeping her head cradled. Ritsuko noticed how she put her A-10 Neuro Clips in their proper places in the same hairstyle the second child had been famous for… placed carefully and lovingly. She could truly see it now… Rei had fallen in love with Asuka, and if Misato was correct about Asuka's feelings towards Rei… this would make for one of the most twisted love stories she ever heard.

A few moments later, Rei was stripped into something closer to night ware (which is to say, her shorts were removed and a larger T-Shirt replaced her current one, as well as her bra being removed) and placed in bed.

"Misato," Ritsuko began, "I really hate to do this to you but…"

"I'll stay with Rei," Misato replied, knowing immediately what Ritsuko was going to ask. She never even looked up as she busied herself tucking Rei into the bed as a mother would her own sick daughter.

"Thanks," she replied.

"Don't thank me… I'm doing what any responsible mother figure should do. Please call Shinji for me though and let him know I'm not coming home tonight."

"I will," the doctor replied. "But never-the-less, you have my gratitude."

"The girls need us," Misato replied immediately. "That's enough for me."

* * *

Asuka collapsed head first into her bed. She felt terrible about what Rei was doing to herself and noticed she had managed to shed only one tear.

"Is this really all I can do now? One tear?"

She sat up, holding the pillow to her chest. Her sense of touch made the pillow feel almost like nothing anymore. She had to squeeze it tightly to her body to really register anything.

"It is getting worse…" She frowned. "IT'S getting worse. Why am I using less simple speech?" Then her eyes widened… Rei virtually never used contractions or simple language before. "No…" she whispered realizing she was slipping truly into Rei's role. It hasn't even been 24 hours yet, and she was already losing the battle with the medication.

"I can not let it end this way, I simply can't." She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to concentrate. The fear in her heart was returning, but just like everything else, it was only an echo. And she knew she was dying inside.

She tossed the pillow aside and moved towards the nurse's station in the room. Asuka opened drawers looking though them, hoping to find something she could use. After a few moments she found something; she wasn't sure just how something like this ended up in the nurse's station but she was glad she found it.

The blue haired child held up the surgical blade and watched the reflection of the light dance across the edge. It was beautiful to her now; the smooth cold steel, the almost graceful curve of the blade. She held it close to her as if it were a best friend she had not seen in a long time.

Asuka moved into the bathroom and started at her own reflection again. Rei's face stared back at her. She tried to make out what she was feeling inside but her face betrayed nothing. It was truly the face of a doll.

Her brow furled ever so slightly. She held her left arm over the sink, taking the blade in her right hand and held it to the skin on the back of her arm.

_Rei would be disappointed in you._

She gasped slightly as the thought came to her unbidden. Rei would be upset if she knew that Asuka was abusing her body like this. But Rei always healed fast, and never scarred… so would it really hurt her in the end.

_You would always know Asuka… you would always know what you did._

Her hand trembled slightly. Could she live with herself knowing what she did to Rei's body? Would Rei understand if she told her what she had done?

_I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all. I hope she understands… I'm sorry Rei…_

With a gasp Asuka drew the blade across the arm deep enough to draw blood. With such a high quality knife she barely needed to put any pressure on the blade. Her blood began to run down her hand and into the sink.

She felt the cut… and it felt good to her. The blood that ran down her hand felt almost cool against her skin.

"Nothing to it," she whispered and raised the blade up her arm about an inch from the first cut. "And I felt it… that wasn't dulled at all." She smiled slightly; it was a small smile, all she was able to do anymore. "I CAN feel."

She gasped again as the blade dragged across her skin a second time; more blood ran down the back of her hand.

She chuckled lightly, her eyes a little wider than normal. "This… this is almost fun."

She cut again, the gasp much more audible this time… and it sounded as if she was enjoying it far more than she should. The chuckles turned to a maddening sound, and the blade was dragged across her skin once more, but much more slowly this time. What sadness she had turned to unholy joy. She couldn't stop herself, she felt genuinely happy as she cut herself again and again.

"What the hell are you doing?!" came the voice of Misato from the doorway. Asuka instantly spun to face her, holding the knife in front of her defensively as she let her cut up arm hang at her side.

"Stay away!" she cried as blood seemed to nearly pour from her opened wounds onto the white floor. "I can feel again! I can honestly feel!"

"You're hurting yourself," Misato countered.

"I don't care! The drugs can't touch me now!" She started laughing almost triumphantly. "I'll never submit! See! I have a weapon against it now!"

"You'll bleed to death if you keep this up!"

Asuka was now on the verge of screaming. "I don't care! I can't do it Misato… I can't live like a doll! I won't do it!"

"Asuka… stop being so selfish!"

The sudden change in tone from trying to calm her down to scolding her shocked her out of her fit of madness and she listened. Asuka's eyes however still betrayed her lost sanity.

"You're only thinking about yourself now! Don't you see it?! You're hurting Rei… you're killing her body!"

A tear slipped from Asuka's eye to land on her medical gown.

"She doesn't deserve this body," Asuka replied in a near whisper. "She deserves better… she's in mine now, where she can feel… where she can be normal, like she never was before."

"What are you…"

"I won't send her back into this prison! I know she blames herself for everything but it isn't right! Maybe this was meant to happen. Maybe I'm the bad girl who needs to be punished… maybe this unfeeling doll of a shell is all I deserve."

"Asuka," Misato whispered. "How much did you hear?"

"I heard enough… I know she can never love me the way I love her, but I don't care… I want her to live on and be a normal happy girl, the one she never got to be because of some random accident of genetics. And if she can only do that by taking my body, so be it… I don't deserve it anyway."

"Asuka… there's a lot you may have missed then… Please put the knife down so we can talk a bit more like adults." Ritsuko was just on the other side of the door off to the side where Asuka couldn't see her. She had another shot ready and was prepared to put it into the second child as soon as she was coaxed out of the bathroom.

"All I deserve is the knife in my hand, and my blood on the floor," she whispered. Her next words however were shouted. "Why can't you understand that?!"

"Asuka, please. Please just… come out of there so we can talk about this. Rei cares about you more than you think she does."

"I heard her losing her shit Misato, I know what she thinks she feels. But she's just misguided… she scared… she can't know what she's talking about."

"How do you know?" Misato asked, as she inched closer. "She might have more insight into love than you think she does."

Asuka's eyes softened slightly. Her left arm was now aching from all the cuts on it. Even though some were quite deep, most of them had already stopped bleeding. She brought her arm to her chest as the knitting feeling of the skin trying to heal became almost bothersome.

"I… I don't…"

"Please Asuka," Misato almost pleaded. "Please give her a chance."

_If there is even the slightest possibility… but can it really be? It's too much to hope for, but… I want this… I NEED this…_

Asuka took a tentative step forward, but the knife was still in her hand. When she got closer to Misato she turned it so she was handing the handle of it to her instead of the blade. Misato gently took the blade from her and put it on the counter.

"That's it," Misato encouraged. "You're okay now."

"I'll… never be okay," Asuka whispered. She knew that Doctor Akagi was probably waiting for her so she could knock her out but accepted it. She knew she would never sleep otherwise.

With a sad smile that told Misato she knew what was happening next she took the last step into the main hospital room. Sure enough Ritsuko quickly took a hold of her and plunged the needle into her neck, but the blue haired girl never even tensed a muscle. Before Asuka succumbed to the sedative she mouthed three words to Misato.

"I forgive you."

She fell upon Ritsuko as limp as a dead fish. Ritsuko immediately moved her back to the bed and worked on cleaning her wounds and closing them up. Misato was more than just visibly shaken by the event and almost broke into tears herself.

"Where the hell did she get the knife?" she nearly cried.

"Each nurse's station in the hospital wing carries one. I'm the only thing that resembles medical staff here anyway, but I didn't think she was going to go completely emo on us. Otherwise I would have removed it long ago."

"Damn it Ritz," Misato exclaimed while biting back more tears. "This… this is too much! First Rei has a meltdown, now Asuka is cutting herself!"

"More than that Major," Ritsuko added, "Asuka was perfectly willing to sacrifice herself to let Rei have a normal life… If that isn't true love, I don't know what is."

"You sound jealous of them," Misato pointed out.

"Would it surprise you to know, that the closest I ever felt to true love before was the time you and I spent together in college."

Misato actually blushed at that, an almost sad chuckle escaped her throat as she wiped away the few tears that escaped. "I… wow… I didn't know… I thought you just really like fooling around like that."

"I did," she replied. "But that's really the point. What I felt for you back then was the closest to true love I've ever known. Since then, I've not really felt anything close to that."

"I'm sorry," Misato replied, sounding calmer now. "I guess you were pretty jealous of Kaji then huh."

"I knew he was bad for you," she replied as she continued working on Asuka's arm. "I knew because he had me first you know."

"He never told me that."

"Of course he didn't," the doctor replied sourly. "He knew the two of us were roommates and that I wouldn't even talk about the relationship we had."

"I guess. But you have love now don't you? I mean… you and the Commander?"

Ritsuko froze. "How do you know about that?"

"I'm not blind Ritz, besides I have to coordinate with Section-2 a lot and they indicated it to me."

Ritsuko looked at Misato sadly. "What I have with the Commander is… not conventional."

"What do you…"

"Almost non-consensual."

"What?" Misato whispered.

Ritsuko bit back a tear and went back to work. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"Ritz… how long has this been going on?"

Ritsuko stopped again. "Years… I'm not sure how many now. He would call me, and I'd have to obey him. I'd arrive after dark, leave before dawn. I'd have enough time to recover a little before work… you know, shower, freshen up… dress whatever new wounds he gave me."

"Oh God," Misato whispered.

"Rei's life isn't the only one that's a mess, Misato. Mine is far from laudable."

"I'm sorry."

Ritsuko shrugged. "What can you do? Gendo controls everything. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he did the same to Rei, he's a big enough bastard to do it."

"She would have said something," Misato pointed out.

"And as her physician, I'd notice something like that. I know it hasn't happened, I'm just saying I wouldn't be at all surprised if he did it."

Misato frowned at that. Knowing the bastard was capable of such made her less enthused about working for the man. But she had little choice. She watched Ritsuko carefully wrap gauze over the pads on Asuka's skin to keep them in place. Once done she leaned up and brushed the azure hair from her face, and wondered what other secrets were being kept from her.

And just what did Rei mean by her life being "prescripted"?

* * *

**1:14 pm, Classroom 2-A**

* * *

The second half of the school day left the children mostly to their own devices. The sensei was called out for unknown reasons allowing the children time without a teacher. Hikari, of course kept the noise level to an acceptable volume but otherwise allowed her classmates freedom.

Shinji stayed by himself as Kensuke and Touji seemed to be going over something on Ken's camera. He could only imagine what it was. It was likely some new get rich scheme that involved inappropriate pictures. The seat to his right was empty, but that didn't last. He heard someone sit down and smiled softly when he realized who it was.

"Penny for your thoughts?" came the cheery voice of Mana Kirishima.

Mana was a recent addition to class 2-A, and one that immediately took to Shinji. She had a cheery personality while hiding a tough interior. The girl was lively and intelligent, and very much in love with Shinji by all accounts, though Shinji couldn't figure out why.

"I'm just worried about my friends," Shinji replied. Mana knew exactly who he was talking about immediately, as they were both absent today. Still, she mentioned them by name to move the conversation along.

"Asuka and Rei," she noted.

Shinji nodded. "I don't know what happened, not that I could talk about it even if I knew. I know something happened at NERV… some kind of accident."

"It must be really tough on you pilots," she noted, "especially if a simple test or training exercise can get you hurt."

"Yeah, and to think Ken actually wants that life."

Mana chuckled. "Ken is an obsessive who loves anything military in origin. Trying to get him to not want to be a pilot would be like telling the sun to sit down and not show itself in the morning."

Shinji chuckled slightly. "True enough."

He watched as the two stooges looked more interested at the camera. "I wonder what that's all about," he heard Mana say.

"I don't know, and I'm not about to go find out," he explained. "Last time they got this interested in something it was grossly inappropriate for school."

"Ah," Mana began with disapproval, "those kinds of boys."

"Their hearts are in the right place, but I think they listen to their hormones too much."

Mana giggled. Shinji immediately decided he liked that sound.

He's noticed that ever since Mana started to spend time with him in school, he began to open up a bit more. Each meeting with her was getting him just a little further out of his shell.

"Hey, you wanna hang out after school today?" she asked.

"I don't know… I know we're off tomorrow but I might have to be home to cook dinner for…" he stopped short as his cellphone rang. He looked at it and saw that it was someone from NERV calling him. "Hold on a sec, I have to take this." He opened the phone.

"This is Shinji."

"_Shinji, this is Doctor Akagi."_

"Oh hello, Doctor. What's wrong?"

"_The situation here has gotten worse, Misato is not coming home tonight, and neither is Asuka. You'll be on your own for now."_

"I don't suppose I can ask what's wrong."

"_Sorry Shinji, you know I can't talk about such things over an open phone line. Do you need anything or will you be okay?"_

Shinji thought about what this meant. He didn't have to go home immediately… which meant he could hang out with Mana if he wanted to. And there wouldn't really be any harm in that right?

"I'll be fine. Thank you Doctor Akagi."

"_You're welcome. Take care."_

Shinji hung up. "Well, nevermind, looks like I'm available after all."

Mana looked genuinely excited about that. "Cool! We'll go to the mall. There is a new arcade that opened up this week and I hear they have some of the best multiplayer games on the market right now. I can't wait to show you my moves."

Shinji couldn't help but wonder if there was a double entendre there somewhere.

"Just keep in mind; I have clean up after school today."

"I'll stay and help."

"But it isn't even your day," Shinji pointed out.

"That's fine," Mana replied. "I don't mind helping. Besides, it'll get us out faster!"

Shinji smiled at her.

* * *

**NERV Hospital Wing, 3:34 pm**

* * *

Ritsuko continued working on the computer system trying different MAGI based simulations to try to get a better understanding of what happened during the cross synchronization test. But each time, she came out with the same result… A four way synchronization took place causing the pilots to switch bodies. To the best of her ability to tell, the souls in the EVAs did not also switch, only the souls of the pilots did.

_Did they do this themselves?_

It was a well know fact, at least known to Ritsuko that the souls in the EVAs could potentially act of their own volition. But to think they were capable of this…

But didn't they go berserk in the test chamber? Didn't that mean that this was not intended? So what went wrong?

"Sempai?" came the voice of Maya to pull her from her thoughts.

Maya was one of the bridge bunnies. She was a technician that had a lot of computer knowledge but a somewhat weak constitution. Despite that shortcoming, she was a valuable member of the bridge crew, and Ritsuko had to admit she was also quite cute.

It was at that thought that Ritsuko decided that Gendo ruined her for men. His rough handling made the idea of a relationship with a male seem much less appealing. Her experience with Kaji didn't help that at all. But Ritsuko had been on the other side before, with Misato.

_Would it surprise you to know, that the closest I ever felt to true love before was the time you and I spent together in college._

Ritsuko had meant every word of it. Suddenly the thought of her and Maya together seemed like the best idea she'd had in a while. Plus, from her observations of Maya, she had a good idea that Maya may have a crush on her.

"Hello Maya," Ritsuko replied. "Everything okay topside?"

"Just fine Sempai," she replied. "We're still trying to figure out if maybe it was some kind of mechanical failure that caused the EVAs to go berserk."

Maya didn't know yet that the pilots had switched bodies. Ritsuko needed her insight; maybe the girl could see something she didn't.

"Maya," she began, "I need to tell you something important. This is something you could potentially help me with, but you have to promise me no one else will hear of this from you."

"Um… sure," Maya replied nervously. "Is this some kind of super secret?"

"Something like that," Ritsuko replied. "The Commander doesn't want this getting too far. Understand."

"I understand, what's happened?"

"It's hard to believe, even though I've seen the results, but the pilots seemed to have somehow switched bodies."

"What?!" Maya could hardly believe what she just heard. But she knew Ritsuko was very serious about such things and wasn't joking. And if her Sempai believed it happened, she had to. "How?!"

"We still don't know," Ritsuko replied. "Here, take a look at this."

Maya stood over Ritsuko's shoulder and got closer to the screen. Though Maya had done this before, Ritsuko was starting to see the young bridge tech in a new light. She smelled the light jasmine perfume the girl was wearing and it was very distracting.

"Wow, those graphs are crazy, but I think I see where the change happened."

"What?" Ritsuko snapped out of her drifting to look at the screen. Maya pointed out a point of the graph where a few of the lines seemed to intersect and then mirror their previous spots. "Wait… why didn't I see that before?"

"So you see it then?"

"Yes, the beta graphs converged at +0.1 at precisely the same time, a few seconds before both of the pilots went unconscious."

"That means I can use the time index to see if something mechanical failed or reported a malfunction at that same instance. It could indicate or at least point out where we should start looking!"

"Maya you're a genius!"

She chuckled uncomfortably and blushed ever so lightly. "It's really nothing Sempai," she said modestly. "I guess you've just been staring so long at the graphs, you needed a fresh pair of eyes."

"Maybe," Ritsuko agreed.

"Hey," Misato said as she finally walked in. "Since we finally made a bit of headway, the techs can start sifting though the logs right? Why don't you to go get something to eat while that goes on. You haven't had anything real to eat since yesterday Ritz."

"Really?!" Maya exclaimed in surprise. "Sempai! That's not good! Come on, we'll go get some decent food topside."

Ritsuko was about to protest but saw the look on Misato's face.

"Seriously Ritz," Misato pressed. "Take a few hours off, it will do you some good. The kids will be out for a bit anyway so there's no harm in it."

Ritsuko sighed. "You're right. Ok, I'll go get food with Maya." Of course she knew exactly why Misato was so insistent and made it a point to get Maya to push for this. The Major was trying to hook her up with the bridge tech. Workplace relationships never go well, but Ritsuko was so desperate for companionship that wasn't Gendo, she couldn't say no if she wanted to.

Misato mouthed the words "have fun" as Ritsuko passed her in the hall with Maya all but dragging the head of Project E out of the Hospital Wing.

_I'll have to get her back for this._

* * *

**Toho Café, 4:10 pm**

* * *

Ritsuko had only been here once before and that was with Kaji. Why she accepted the invitation knowing that he was really after Misato is beyond her. This time the company was infinitely more pleasant. The café served mostly western food, and Maya had been talking about this place for some time, so it was the first place Ritsuko suggested.

As Ritsuko ate her chef salad, Maya in a typical almost kid like fashion was eating an American style cheeseburger with steak cut French fries.

"Isn't this better than the lunchroom Sempai?" Maya asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"Much better," Ritsuko agreed though her voice was kind of distant.

"You're worried about the kids," Maya pointed out.

"Can you blame me?"

"No!" Maya said quickly. "Of course not! I've taken quite a liking to the pilots too you know. Rei especially… she seems like she always needs a hug."

Ritsuko thought that sounded quite ironic considering how often Rei has needed them as of late. But she needed to change the subject; she suspected how Maya felt about her, but she needed to know for sure.

"So Maya," Ritsuko began.

"Yes?"

"How do you… really feel about me?"

There was an uncomfortable pause. _Oh God, does she know about me?_

Ritsuko frowned noting Maya was getting uncomfortable. "Sorry, that was inappropriate."

"No no, its okay." Maya took a short but deep breath. "I… like you, Sempai."

"Like me?"

_God that sounded lame. _"Yeah… I really do."

Ritsuko smiled slightly as she carefully slipped one of her feet out of its shoe.

"But how much do you like me?" she asked innocently.

Maya was about to answer when she felt Ritsuko's foot gently tracing its way up her leg. Maya decided she was going to wear her uniform skirt today, so she felt the foot glide across her pantyhose seductively and couldn't believe Ritsuko was doing this. Maya looked into Ritsuko's eyes and saw something she never saw before.

There was an amused yet seductive look in her eyes, and it was everything Maya hoped to see there, but she never expected to find that. _Desire…_

"S-Sempai?" Maya whispered as the foot traced its way up to her thigh.

"Something wrong Maya?" Ritsuko asked with a devious glint in her eye.

Maya was about to say something but she sighed in pleasure instead. She tried very hard to keep it down as she was in a public place.

"Maybe we should extend this break a little, you seem a bit overworked." At that she removed her foot and put it back in her shoe. Maya finally got her breath back.

"I-I guess so," she replied and blushed a bit.

"We should go to my apartment," Ritsuko suggested immediately making the young tech's heart beat faster. "It's a ways outside of town but I need to check on Chester anyway and you've never been to my place before right?"

"Chester?"

"My cat," she explained. Then she laughed a little. "I know, it's a western name but I like it."

"It's cute," Maya admitted, now a bit calmer… though what Ritsuko was suggesting! If she didn't know better, she'd think that Ritsuko wanted to have sex with her or something."

"How far out of town?"

"Usually an hour one way, but with rush hour it'll probably take longer. Don't worry about getting in trouble or anything; I'm your boss after all."

"O-Okay! We can do that then."

Ritsuko smiled. _This is going to be a good day after all._

* * *

**Class 2-A, 4:22 pm**

* * *

Shinji was quite impressed with Mana's ability to get housekeeping done. Hikari protested her staying behind to help with the cleaning, but the blue-eyed girl was insistent on staying. As a result, a task that normally takes 30 minutes took only 20 with the extra helper. Hikari did thank her for the help but told the other children that were helping to not always expect an extra helper.

When the pair left the school, Hikari watched them leave. Mana had taken Shinji's hand in hers and the blushing third child of NERV seemed to enjoy the touch. Hikari sighed to herself, wondering if Touji would ever see her in that light.

_Of course not, he probably believes you're too good for him, or maybe not good enough._

Either thought was sad; Hikari hid a desire for the jock that could not be expressed in mere words, yet he would always be held back by some insipid reason that Hikari _knew _was wrong. But there was really no way to push the point across. She knew she should just confront him and tell him how she feels, but every time she thought of doing so, she couldn't do it. The thought was simply too embarrassing.

She gathered up her things and proceeded towards home but she only got about half way when a black car pulled up ahead of her. The girl stopped, wondering what this was about when the driver's side door opened and a man got out. He wore dark khaki pants, and a blue button up shirt. His face was a bit stubbly, as if he hadn't shaved in a couple of days and his brown hair was in a pony tail. His face was pleasant, but the overall look of the man-made her think he was up to no good.

As Hikari began to step back he spoke.

"Are you Hikari Horaki, Class Representative of room 2-A?"

"Who wants to know?" Hikari asked quickly.

"My name is Special Inspector Kaji, NERV internal security." He pulled out his badge wallet and showed the girl his credentials.

"You wouldn't mind if I take a closer look at that do you?"

"Knock yourself out," he replied, never breaking his smile and held the wallet out to her. Hikari took it and examined the ID and badge closely before handing it back.

"You're almost exactly like Asuka described," she said.

"Ah, so Asuka-chan has been speaking of me," he replied with a slight chuckle. "I'm not surprised. She's been obsessed with me for some time now. She's far too young though, I'd never allow her to get close."

"I see. What do you want Inspector?"

"Well, small talk would have been okay, but I do have a job to do. I need to ask you a few questions."

"About what?"

"Who actually. I need to ask a few questions about Mana Kirishima."

Hikari froze. "Is she in trouble?"

"Not yet," Kaji replied. "She's not suspected of anything at least. However her credentials when she moved into the city were flagged by our security office. It's probably nothing, but I have to check anyway."

"I see."

"It would be a little more comfortable in my car," he offered. "Afterwards I can drive you the rest of the way home. I know you don't live that far but it is the least I could do."

"Ok."

Hikari got into the back of Kaji's car on the passenger side while Kaji sat in the driver's seat.

"My questions might seem irrelevant, but they are all important I can assure you."

Hikari nodded her understanding.

"Very good. Firstly, what is your overall opinion of Miss Kirishima?"

Hikari thought for a moment. "She's very outgoing, smart, and thoughtful. Also, she has a good sense of humor."

Kaji nodded at the explanation. "Have you seen her do anything that would count as unusual?"

"Like?"

"Is she always on the phone during lunch hour, or does she take frequent bathroom breaks?"

"No."

"Does she seem overtly engaged in class? I know your teacher tends to ignore the actual curriculum and drone on and on about pre second impact Japan."

"Not really, she's just as bored with it as we are."

Kaji chuckled lightly at that. "She ever look uncomfortable or nervous?"

"No, never." Hikari was wondering what the point of this was. The questions he was asking made it sound like she was some kind of spy or something.

"Okay, last question then I can take you home. Has she taken a close interest in anyone in the class?"

Hikari paused before answering, trying to determine how best to answer the question. "I know for a fact that she and Shinji are an item now. She certainly makes no secret of it."

"She isn't hiding the fact at all?"

"Nope. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is this about? The questions are pointing towards something specific… that much I can see."

Kaji smiled slightly. "You are an intelligent girl… just like Asuka-chan told me." Hikari blushed at that, it almost sounded like he was flirting with her. "I can't talk about it unfortunately, Miss Horaki, despite how much I'd actually love to chat further about this. I might need to speak to you about her again in the future, would you be willing?"

"Of course," Hikari replied. "I have no intention of getting in the way of a NERV investigation."

"Good good, thank you for that." Kaji put the car in gear and began driving. "I'm sorry to be so cloak and dagger, but it's a necessity of the job I'm afraid."

"What happens if she is some kind of spy or something… is Shinji in any real danger?"

Kaji sighed. "Honestly, I don't think so. If she is some kind of spy, her best move would be to gain his trust first. There isn't anything definitive yet, so please don't tip her off that anyone suspects anything, just incase ok?"

Hikari nodded. "Ok."

* * *

**End of Chapter 4**

* * *

_You can have my isolation,_

_You can have the hate that it brings,_

_You can have my absence of faith,_

_You can have my everything…_

* * *

**A/N: **Dear God, this has gotten ridiculous! But I can't stop now.

**Cyber-Undead: **Yeah, I let my fingers do the typing, and apparently, I was feeling extra horny that day. I ain't afraid to admit it. Shinji however has his own romance budding and is still in the dark about what's happening. Of course, this isn't even the end of the day yet.

To answer your question about same sex relationships, believe it or not, especially with young people, it's viewed as a phase. Where a phase seems to include experimentation (be it guy x guy or girl x girl) its normally expected that the phase will end eventually, however there is a larger percentage of homosexual relationships that have been sticking beyond the simple experiment phase in Japan. I wouldn't call it an epidemic.

Like it was here before it started getting more accepted (outside of San Francisco), the older traditionalists frown upon it. The younger seem more accepting of it, but this is also coming from a country that (despite how it's written in lemons on this site) has a very archaic attitude towards pubic hair (or as they call it… adult hair).

As mentioned, I'm not into Yaoi, but Yuri I'll do all day. Call me insecure or a part-time homophobe if you will, it's just a personal preference. Girl on girl to me is so beautiful it makes guy on girl look disgusting.

**Wut (Guest):** This is what happens when someone who has had a horribly stunted sense of touch all their lives suddenly gets a normal sense of touch, and then touches something they shouldn't have.

All kids at some point realize that touching themselves in certain ways gives interesting sensations. Many will explore those sensations further. That's just a part of growing up, nothing sick or disgusting about it really, it's perfectly natural. But Rei grew up with her senses stunted so badly that she wouldn't have ever felt that before. Now suddenly the on switch of her sense of touch got turned on… what do you think was going to happen next? If you answered, "Give the author an excuse to write a lemon scene," you're right. Plus it's kind of important for Rei's character development, since in this type of story, she's going to edge into OOC territory due to this never possibly happening ever in the series.

Thanks again to everyone who read and / or reviewed. This story is getting out of hand but I like the way it's doing so. It's a story I can really just cut loose on and let my psychotic roller coaster emotions go. It's an outlet like no other, so thanks for sharing it with me.


End file.
